DIY Halloween costumes: This free service helps kids bring their ideas to life

Halloween is the perfect time to showcase creativity and imagination.

For the child who doesn't want an average costume and dreams of dressing up as something out-of-the-box like a vacuum cleaner, wind chime, water heater, sand dune or any other unconventional choice, there's a costume concierge service that will sketch kids' ideas and help them bring them to life.

Children's clothing company, Primary, started the Halloween Costume Concierge Service seven years ago. To date (not including this year), they have fielded over 4,000 costume requests as a completely free service to their customers.

How does it work?

Parents chat with their costume concierge for free via Zoom or phone and leave with a completely DIY set of instructions for how to create it themselves. Primary clothing options are provided, but there is no pressure to buy anything. Clothes you already have on hand can easily be subsituted.

Just email diyeasy@primary.com or call or text 1-833-DIY-EASY with the following information to get the process started:

• a photo or link to your costume inspiration
• your child’s age
• any special climate needs for a warmer/cooler costume
• any other details you think could be helpful

Benefits to DIYing a costume

• Some of the best, most well-received costumes are those that are made rather than bought.

• If you create the costume with everyday clothes as a base, they can be re-purposed and re-worn later.

• Making a costume is fun! Get the whole family involved and turn it into a bonding activity that you can do together. Your child will remember all the work and love that you put into it.

When is the deadline?

While there isn't technically a deadline, Primary's costume concierge abides by typical business operating hours of Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 6:00 pm ET, and requests for custom costume instructions usually take a few business days.

The service is available all year round too, so you can enlist their help for other things that might come up throughout the year -- think school Spirit Week, dress like your favorite book character day, etc.

Ideas for 2023 Halloween costumes

This year, "Barbie" is poised to be the most popular costume according to Google's annual Freightgeist.

Primary has detailed instructions on how to create every iteration of Barbie from Cowboy Barbie, President Barbie, Weird Barbie, Rollerblading Barbie, Alan, Cowboy Ken, Dance Ken and Mojo Dojo Casa House Ken.

More of this year's top costumes are also ready to be DIY'd including Spider-Man, the ever-popular witch, fairy, dinosaur and Wednesday Addams.

For a more unique costume, reach out to Primary's costume concierge to bring your child's vision to life.